Alumni Directory Display

Olivia graduated from Columbia University with a BA in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (MESAAS) and Environmental Science. She wrote an honors thesis on stand-up comedy in East Africa entitled, “Laughing with Redykyulass: Critical Comedy in Moi’s Kenya.” She speaks French and Spanish fluently, and is currently focused on improving her Swahili and Turkish. Before college, Olivia spent a year in Paraguay living with a local family and volunteering full-time at a daycare for low-income children. Olivia has also had the opportunity to spend two summers in Africa, during one of them she studied Swahili in Kenya after being awarded a FLAS language scholarship. At Columbia, Olivia has been a member of GlobeMed in which she has organized fundraisers for global health issues and learned about grassroots global health organizations. Olivia also worked as a research assistant at the Earth Institute throughout her undergraduate career. In her first role, she assisted with the development of a systems thinking framework to enable African policymakers to choose relevant anti-malaria interventions. Her most recent project involved examining maize yield variability in African smallholder farms. Olivia is excited for work with the WFP as well as exploring Kampala and picking up some Luganda!

Morgan is from Boston, Massachusetts and graduated with degrees in Social Policy, African Studies, and Global Health. Both in and outside of school, Morgan pursued opportunities that expanded these studies beyond a purely academic, classroom setting. She had the opportunity to study abroad in South Africa and learned about the country’s system of public health and development. Throughout her time as an undergraduate, Morgan also taught health and sexual education workshops to freshmen in Chicago public schools, and worked with Jumpstart to provide literacy and language skills to preschoolers from low-income families. Beyond the university, Morgan interned in both government and non-profit public health-related settings, working at the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health and at Oral Health America. In her free time, Morgan practices yoga—and actually hopes to become certified as a teacher—and loves to be outside as much as possible, whether it is biking or running, hiking or sailing. She also loves exploring new places, listening to new music, trying new foods and meeting new people. Morgan is thrilled to work in Tanzania at IEFT, as it is an opportunity for such novelty and an opportunity to grow and apply her academic pursuits.

Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Madeline Wong graduated from Tufts University with majors in biology and archaeology. Her college research with The Kibale Chimpanzee Project and The Kasiisi Project spanned biology, anthropology, conservation, and education in rural Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Madeline was the undergraduate One Health student contact in collaboration with Tufts Dental, Medical, and Veterinary schools and taught the importance of ancient cultures at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Uplifting her communities, Madeline supported microfinancing for immigrant small businesses in New York and Massachusetts. As a Princeton in Africa fellow with the communications and knowledge management team at the International Livestock Research Institute based in Nairobi, Kenya, Madeline has been reporting on sustainable livelihoods and gender projects that by design highlight South-South cooperation.

Alumni Update:

Mariah is finishing her second year of her MPH at UC Berkeley, where she is studying Epidemiology and Biostatistics. She is interested in environmental epidemiology and how environmental issues disproportionately impact vulnerable populations, including those on the African continent who are and will be most impacted by climate change.

Fellow Bio:

Based in Chicagoland most of her life, Mariah graduated in 2014 with majors in Environmental Science and International Studies and a minor in Global Health Studies. At Northwestern, she was involved in GlobeMed, a student-run nonprofit dedicated to promoting health equity; was a board member of an organization that hosts an annual human rights conference for students; was a community health volunteer with a student group that mapped health assets in north Chicago; and was a tutor and mentor at a before-school program at an elementary school. She received a departmental award for her senior thesis on the microbial ecology of certain indoor environments and the interactions between microbes and humans in those spaces and is publishing her research through the Biosciences Division at Argonne National Laboratory. She spent her junior spring near Cape Town, studying public health and development. She currently works at Chapin Hall in Chicago, a policy research organization dedicated to using data to benefit children, families, and their communities. Mariah is thrilled to be returning to South Africa and is looking forward to exploring the southern Africa region, living somewhere with mountains again, and working in the South African health sector.

Jessica is a Charleston, South Carolina native and graduate of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. She started her career in humanitarian work as an intern at the International Rescue Committee in Atlanta, GA assisting resettlement division caseworkers and aiding newly arrived refugee families. Later, Jes spent the summer in DC with Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service as a refugee/immigrant advocacy intern in the midst of the family separation crisis. There, she drafted written materials for the advocacy team, created digital media content, and engaged in Princeton Office of Religious Life research examining the relationship between the organization’s faith-based foundation and refugee resettlement. As a creative mind, freelance photographer, and global citizen, Jes seeks to combine creative and analytical problem solving in the humanitarian sector. She aims to produce digital media material for humanitarian organizations as a way of promoting awareness for global issues and inspiring engagement from worldwide audiences. Motivated by a deeply rooted love for language, culture, and learning, you’ll find Jes constantly on the move. This year, she’s excited to join Gardens for Health International – camera in hand – as a communications and development fellow in Rwanda.

Alumni Update:

Josh is currently working at Vera Solutions in Mumbai, India, as a consultant designing cloud-based monitoring and evaluation and other data management systems for a range of social impact organizations (from IPA and GAVI, to your small social enterprises). Sarah Evans (PiAf 2013-14) is also working at Vera!

Fellow Bio:

Josh is an International Studies major from Traverse City, MI. In undergraduate at Hope College (Holland, MI), he spent time abroad studying global health and development in Geneva, Switzerland and human rights in Kigali, Rwanda. Since graduation, Josh has spent time in India studying local governance systems, interned as a part of the Monitoring and Evaluation team at Search for Common Ground in Washington DC, and worked for Lutheran World Relief on the Constituent Engagement unit. In Malawi next year, Josh is looking forward to learning Chichewa and hopes to scuba dive in Lake Malawi.

Songyue Xu graduated from New York University Abu Dhabi with a degree in Social Research & Public Policy. Given her strong interest in economic development, Songyue has gained professional experiences in banking, consulting, consumer products, NGOs, and entrepreneurship. Songyue has interned as a strategy analyst in Dubai with Philip Morris International. Later as an investment banking analyst at Alpha Capital, a boutique financial advisory firm based in New York, she has advanced her skills in financial modeling through facilitating multiple M&A transactions between Chinese investors and American technology firms. As a treasury and trade summer analyst at Citibank in Hong Kong, she has also deepened her understanding in credit risk management. In 2017, Songyue studied in Ghana for a semester, during which she worked part-time at a local consulting firm. She has built a strong bonding with the continent ever since then. Songyue is passionate about community building. She has helped with grant writing for Media Response, a Ghanaian NGO, and has designed national school engagement projects with Special Olympics Summer World Games 2019 to expose secondary school students in the UAE to the spirit of Special Olympics. In daily life, Songyue enjoys dancing, rowing, and rock climbing.

Nishtha graduated from Emerson College with an M.A. in Communication Management with a specialization in Political Communication in 2018. Born and raised in New Delhi, India, she also holds an undergraduate degree in Journalism from Wilson College, University of Mumbai, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism from Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. A former journalist, Nishtha worked with one of the largest English newspapers in India. During this time, she reported on education, politics and LGBTQ+ rights. As she collaborated with activists and community members for news stories, she discovered her passion for social advocacy and community engagement. Since then she has worked with nonprofits and advocacy centers to help further their vision. Most notably, she worked as a program associate with the Elma Lewis Center for Civic Engagement, Learning and Research, where she gained experience in community outreach and building a grassroots movement. She also worked with Boston Partners in Education as their program coordinator for Power Lunch, a reading enrichment program for students in Boston Public Schools. In 2020, she was selected as a Social Entrepreneurship Fellow by ProFellow, a US-based social enterprise, where she learnt about the mechanics of building and sustaining a social enterprise. In the future, she hopes to get an academic understanding of community development and social justice practices, and eventually start her own social enterprise focused around connecting community-based organizations from developing countries. In her free time, Nishtha likes to bake, watch world cinema, and explore museums.

Alumni Update:

After two years in DC working in public sector consulting, Jane finally gave in to the siren call of Nairobi again. She’s now working on the central strategy and research team in One Acre Fund. Outside of the office, it’s incredible to see Nairobi continue to grow as a metropolis, and she’s so glad to be able to enjoy all it has to offer from rock-climbing to picnics in Nairobi National Park to a casual evening of board games with friends. And, of course, the PiAf family — Nairobi is now 14 strong amongst the current Fellows and alumni!

Fellow Bio:

Jane (Princeton ‘11) is a Chemical and Biological Engineering major from Ypsilanti, MI. At Princeton, she was heavily involved with various Pace Center for Civic Engagement projects, Engineers Without Borders, and the Writing Center. Jane has been to Ghana before, where she learned of the wonders of groundnuts and plantains and the agbaja dance. She is looking forward to being in East Africa with the Nairobi, Kenya office of the International Rescue Committee, learning how to cook delicious local foods, picking up some Swahili, and adding more African dances to her repertoire.

Katie graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a major in English and minor in consumer psychology. At Penn, she was involved in Wharton’s undergraduate marketing club, MUSE, where she led projects for their nonprofit consulting division. During her junior year, Katie spent a semester studying at the University of Cape Town, where her passion for serving marginalized communities grew. Following graduation, Katie developed her marketing and communication skills at Rabin Martin, a global health consulting firm, where she communicated public health programs and corporate social responsibility initiatives. She then moved to Edelman, a global communication firm, where she worked in their Corporate and Public Affairs sector driving communications strategy, executive leadership positioning and media relations for Fortune 500 companies such as eBay, Audible, and the PepsiCo Foundation. Looking for ways to further engage with her passions, Katie joined Amref Health Africa’s Young Professional Board where she works on event planning, fundraising and strategy development to forward their mission. She is excited to return to the African continent to work intimately with those fighting to protect and uplift populations most susceptible to systemic injustices.